Mayfield West contains 1 Long Day Care centre (94 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (20 places) and 1 OSHC facility (120 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Regional NSW average on a resident basis — though likely far tighter supply once significant daily workforce inflows to the area are considered. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 168 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.3 - placing the area among the top 30% nationally for supply per child on a resident basis, though closer to ~1.9 once estimated daytime workforce inflow is factored in. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 1.6 children per place (upper quintile supply). Further breakdowns by age, to help in identifying the most in-need services, show strong LDC provision for the infant and toddler cohort (<3yo) with 94 places across 1 facility serving 88 children while preschool supply is similarly strong with 1 facility providing 20 places (3.0 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Regional NSW average of 4.4). With projected population growth of 11.1% between now and 2041, and 11.9% in the under 5 age group in particular, 30 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. As well as this projected growth, other factors worth noting are lower than average employment performance.
In assessing child care markets local school supply is a particularly important factor, given school-run convenience, and enrolment vs child care place analysis can provide useful insight into capacity both for parents seeking child care options and child care operators assessing opportunities in an area. The catchment sees a level of school enrolment relative to population of 14.2 per 100 residents with 323 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This above-average concentration of school places suggests the area serves as something of a destination for educational services, which typically supports elevated childcare demand through school run convenience patterns. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is lower than average. Rather unsurprisingly, out of school hours child care - serving school age children - was found to be much more abundant than other service types in the area. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being shorter than average.
6 school catchments intersect Mayfield West (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 5,833 children aged under 5 reside, served by 5,697 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.0 children per place, with moderate variance in this ratio.